Tritium is a hydrogen atom containing one proton, two neutrons, and one electron. Radioactive tritium has a half-life of 12.33 years and emits beta particles during its decay. While the human skin will readily stop beta particles without any damage, tritium will easily vaporize and the inhalation of tritium is dangerous as internal body tissues are easily damaged by beta particles.
In response to the increasing demands for electrical power within the United States, more atomic reactor generating plants are being built, particularly those having high temperature gas cooled reactors (HTGR). In HTGR's, there is a large production of tritium. Tritium is so pervasive, that it easily penetrates the steel tubing of the steam generator of the reactor and into the water system. Once into the water system there are several ways for tritium to escape into the atmosphere. To date, tritium has been removed from HTGR's only by unrestrained release into the atmosphere, or into the water disposal system, or otherwise into the surrounding environment. As more and larger HTGR's are built, the pollution of the environment through this indiscriminate discharge steadily increases and will soon create a significant problem unless remedied. In fact, the maximum permissible amount of release of radiation to the environment established by the Atomic Energy Commission will be exceeded by the rate of production of tritium in the large HTGR's already in the planning stage.